Known in the present state of the art is a method for treatment of neuritis of the optic nerve (SU, A, 927,246) by virtue of an effect produced by a magnetic field having an intensity of from 200 to 400 Oe. Sources of the magnetic field are arranged at the level of a straight line passing through the external auditory pores, and the area of the optic nerve is exposed to the effect of the magnetic field for 15 minutes, a treatment course consisting of 15 to 20 such 15-minute sessions. Three or four treatment courses are carried out at a one- to three-month interval.
However, said method is not adequately efficient when used for treatment of optic tract diseases and suffers from substantial disadvantages.
The method makes use of a permanent magnetic field, which is less efficient than a variable field and the more so a pulsed one.
A permanent magnetic field involves prolonged treatment sessions and hence longer treatment courses.
The method in question supposes only one area to be acted upon, whereas the optic tract features a definite extent so that all the areas of the optic tract, that is, the retina, optic nerve, chiasm, geniculate body, and visual analyzers of the cortex of both cerebral hemispheres, cannot be exposed to the effect of a magnetic field with the same field intensity, i.e., the effect on the other areas of the optic tract is much less efficient.
Known in the art is a method for treatment of reticular dystrophy (SU, A, 1,204,211), consisting in exposure of the eye to the effect of a permanent magnetic field, the procedure involving application of a magnet having an area of 5.0 to 7.0 cm.sup.2 and magnetic induction of 150 to 200 mT, with its southseeking pole to the patient's temporal region, whereupon the axis of the magnet is aligned with a horizontal straight line passing through the external angle of the infraorbital margin, a treatment session taking 15 to 20 minutes.
However, the aforesaid method is not adequately effective in treatment of optic tract diseases, since it makes use of a permanent magnetic field, which is less efficient than a variable or a pulsed field.
Moreover, exposure to the effect of a permanent magnetic field involves prolonged treatment sessions and courses, while application of a curative action upon only one optic tract element fails to provide magnetic field application to other areas of the optic tract, thereby affecting the curative effect of said optic tract areas.
Further on, a prolonged period of treatment is concerned with the fact that, whenever both eyes are to be treated, the essence of the proposed method allows only one eye to be treated at a time, since simultaneous treatment of both eyes affects badly the rheo-ophthalmic indices of both eyes, a feature that adds more to the duration of the treatment period.
An applicator for magnetotherapy of the eye (SU, A, 1,139,446) is known to comprise a body and a magnetic element. The applicator is provided with a coordinate ring and a number of additional magnetic elements, said magnetic elements having polepieces and are situated in the body slots with a possibility of radial and longitudinal travel and rotation, while the body itself is turnable with respect to the coordinate ring.
However, the invention under consideration suffers from some disadvantages, namely, it is constructionally intended for frontal arrangement on the anterior eye portion and cannot be applied to other ocular portions wanting magnetic therapy, thereby being ineffective for treatment of diseases of the entire optic tract. Besides, the present device fails to provide synchronism of the magnetic field effect with the blood flow pulsation in the internal carotid artery, which affects adversely the efficacy of treatment.
One prior-art magnetotherapy device (DE, A, 1,3221544) is known to comprise a housing accommodating a permanent magnet and a drive whose shaft is associated with the axle of the permanent magnet.
The operating principle of the known device is based on the fact that a rotating magnetic field is established round a rotary permanent magnet, which magnetic field is used to produce a curative effect onto various pathologic areas. A characteristic feature of the aforesaid known device is the fact that the permanent magnet rotates uniformly and its rotation develops a sinusoidally variable space magnetic field, which prolongs the treatment period and affects the curative effect.
The device fails to provide substantially intense induced electric fields when bringing permanent magnet rotation in synchronism with blood flow pulsation in the internal carotid artery, since to establish high-intensity electric fields requires very high values of magnetic field induction (of the order of 1 T), which is practically unattainable in the device under consideration.
The disadvantages stated hereinbefore are fraught with untowards side effects, such as headache, abnormally intraocular pressure, which also affects the efficacy of treatment of the optic tract diseases.